Olympus's Hero: Demigods read
by Seaweed Brain Herondales
Summary: The Seven read Percy Jackson and the Olympians to get to know Percy better. Sorry I suck at summarising. All rights to Rick Riordan I own nothing except for the comments in-between.
1. Chapter 1

**Introduction**

**Jason P0V**

I was walking aimlessly around the Argo II just looking for something to do. I couldn't talk to Leo because he was doing something 'important' in the control room, Frank was asleep, the 3 girls were talking in the dining room and Percy, well to be honest I had no idea where he was. He could be at the bottom of the ocean for all I knew. I hardly knew the guy; I mean I know him but not as well as I know the others.

I feel as if when he tells us about his past (which hardly ever happens) he's holding a lot back. Emphasising on a lot. It was weird, I thought, I mean we're supposed to be saving the world together and no one, except maybe Annabeth, knows anything about him.

I walked into my room still thinking about this when there was a blinding flash of light. I covered my eyes and waited for the light to fade. Once the light vanished I took my hands away from my eyes and found 5 books and a letter sitting on my bed. I picked the letter up and read it.

_Dear Demigods,_

_Apollo and I have realized that some of you don't know Percy all that well so we have generously given you these 5 books for you all to read to get to know more about Percy seeming as you're on a quest with him to defeat Gaia. We have given you 5 'free monster days' to finish these in. We cannot give you more than these 5 'free monster days' because as Apollo would say 'Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there's a human quest.' But where's the fun in that? _

_Best wishes_

_Hermes _

I picked up the books and looked at them. The titles were: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Percy Jackson and the Titans Curse, Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth and Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian.

I grabbed all 5 books and the letter and went upstairs to show the others.

-Line Break-

Once all 7 of us were around the dining table, I showed them all the letter and the 5 books.

"So what you're saying is that we have to read these 5 books to get to know Percy better and during the 5 days we have to read them, there will be no monster attacks?" Leo summed up.

"Pretty much I guess," I replied.

"Sounds good to me," throughout the whole time I was explaining Percy hadn't said a thing. I guess because he wasn't too big on the sharing thing he wasn't real psyched about this either.

"So, who wants to read first?" I said picking up the first book.

As soon as the words were out of my mouth Annabeth's hand shoots up, "I will read first," I pass the book to her and she begins reading. "Chapter 1 – _I Accidentally Vaporize my Maths Teacher._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1 – I Accidentally Vaporized my Maths Teacher**

**Piper's POV**

We all looked at Percy. "What?" he asks.

"That chapter name is a bit weird," Leo replies.

"Well that's what happened," Percy retorts defensively.

"Yeah but-"

"Guys enough about the chapter name, let's start," Annabeth yells over the boys bickering.

**Look I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"Who does?" I muttered.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mum or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

"Pretty good advice," Frank noted.

"Well I am known for giving good advice," Percy replied. At this Annabeth started to laugh. Percy looked towards her and smiled. Weird, I thought he might have been a little offended, I know I would've.

"I'm sure Percy gives great advice," I say. Annabeth laughs harder and Percy's smile grows bigger after I say that.

"Oh yeah sure 'great' advice," Annabeth replies trying to contain her laughter. Once she does she continues to read.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous.**

"No shit Sherlock," Leo mutters. I hit him on the shoulder and tell him to shut up.

**It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think its fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

Don't we all, I thought.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages- if you feel something stirring inside- stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"You didn't," Leo said. I hit him again. "Ow, geez Beauty Queen, it's only a joke," he said while rubbing his shoulder. Annabeth continued, ignoring Leo.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I troubled?**

"Yes," Annabeth teased. Frank and Hazel laughed while Percy blushed.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

"You even admit it!" Annabeth laughed while nudging Percy. He mumbled something that sounded like, "Whatever Wise Girl," but I wasn't sure.

"Aw don't worry Seaweed Brain," she said, "You're not that troubled anymore," Percy tried not to smile but failed miserably.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"Sounds like torture," Leo muttered. Annabeth glared at him but continued reading.

**I know- it sounds like torture.**

Annabeth hit Percy on the shoulder, "It does not sound like torture," she scowled.

"Easy for you to say. Your mother is the goddess of wisdom, you love that kind of stuff," Percy said trying to make up some reason as to why it was torture so as not to offend Annabeth. Annabeth was silent for a minute then continued reading.

**Most Yancy field trips were. But , our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

** was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armour and weapons, so he was the only teacherwhose class didn't put me to sleep.**

At this comment, Annabeth hit Percy's shoulder again.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

**Boy was I wrong.**

"What did you do?" Annabeth stopped reading and looked at Percy.

He held up his hands defensively and said, "I didn't do anything," you could tell that Annabeth wasn't satisfied with that answer but she continued to read anyway.

**See, bad things happen to me on fieldtrips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War Cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

"What were you aiming for?" I asked

"Well you know…," Percy trailed off, "I was aiming for… I just wasn't aiming for the school bus, ok."

"That's awesome," Leo said grinning. "I can't believe you blew up a school bus."

"Why thank you," Percy smiled.

Annabeth frowned. "Don't encourage him,"

"I'm not," Leo said defensively. "I just said how awesome it was, I mean I've always wanted to blow up a school bus."

"No you haven't," I said.

"Come on Beauty Queen, who doesn't want to blow up a school bus?"

"I'm sure-"

I was cut off by Jason, "Guys I think we're getting a little off topic here, let Annabeth read."

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that…Well, you get the idea.**

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly red-headed kleptomanic girl, hitting my best friend, Grover, in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

"Ew. What kind of a sandwich is that?" Hazel asked disgusted.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and a start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

"I'm sure Grover would love that description," Annabeth said sarcastically causing Percy to blush.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation.** **The headmaster had threatened me with death-by-in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildy entertaining happened on this trip.**

"**I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

**Grover tried to calm me down, "It's okay. I like peanut butter," He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"That girl sounds like a real bitch," I say. I don't usually swear but there was no other word to describe this girl.

"You have no idea," Percy muttered.

"**That's it," I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

"**You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." **

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

**Mr Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up font in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

**He gathered us around a four-meter-tall stone Colum with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting –**

At this Annabeth smiled and lightly nudged Percy causing him to smile as well.

**-but everybody around me was talking and every time I told them to shut up, the other chaperone, Mrs Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

"Why?" Hazel asked. I was wondering the same thing.

"You'll see," was all Percy said. I had a feeling that we were going to hear that answer a lot.

**Mrs Dodds was this little maths teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our old maths teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

**From her first day, Mrs Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.**

"More like sea spawn," Annabeth joked. Percy smiled and shook his head.

**She would point her crooked finger at me and say, 'Now honey' real sweet and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old maths workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs Dodds was human. He looked at me real serious and said, "You're absolutely right."**

**Mr Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"**

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

**The whole group laughed. Mr Brunner stopped his story. "Mr Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

"Busted," Leo said.

**My face was totally red. I said, "No sir,"**

**Mr Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it, "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

"**Yes," Mr Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. **

"See Percy? You do know this stuff," Annabeth said with a smile. "Maybe your head isn't completely filled with seaweed," Percy lightly punched Annabeth.

"**And he did this because…"**

"**Well…," I racked my brain to remember, "Kronos was the king god and-"**

"**God?" Mr Brunner asked.**

"**Titan," I corrected myself. "And… he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

"**Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"**- and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titian," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"I'm impressed Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said to Percy.

"Why thank you Wise Girl," Percy replied. Annabeth kissed Percy on the lips. They're so relaxed with each other, I wish Jason and I were like that. The two were on the verge of making out when Leo said, "Come on guys, keep it PG!" They pulled away both blushing. "I expected better from you Annie," Leo said trying his best at acting serious. Annabeth glared at Leo and… well let's just say I was very happy that it was not directed at me.

**Some snickers from the group.**

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids'."**

"**And why, Mr Jackson," Mr Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Busted," Jason said.

"**Busted," Grover muttered.**

I looked over at Jason and found that he was blushing. I would've expected Leo to say some stupid comment but I think he was afraid of Annabeth because he remained silent.

"**Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got into trouble too. Mr Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"Hey this Mr Brunner guy kind of reminds me of Chiron," Annabeth noted.

"Yeah I guess he does," Percy smiled like it was some kind of inside joke.

**I thought about his question and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"**I see," Mr Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach**. **The gods defeated their father-**

At this Leo cheered.

**-sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr Brunner said, "Mr Jackson."**

**I knew what was coming.**

"Here we go," Frank mumbled.

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned towards Mr Brunner, "Sir?"**

**Mr Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

"**You must learn the answer to my question," Mr Brunner told me.**

"**About the Titan's?"**

"**About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

"**Oh,"**

"**What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

Annabeth stopped reading and looked at Percy. "Hey Percy," she said, "is Mr Brunner by any chance Chiron?"

"You'll see," was all Percy said but Annabeth took that as a yes.

"I knew it,"

"What?! I didn't say yes,"

"Yeah but that's what people say when they know someone is right and they don't want it admit it,"

"Not all the time,"

"Yeah but most of the time,"

"Nah, I don't –"

"Guys. Who cares? Can you please continue reading?" I asked. Annabeth didn't look happy about it but she continued reading anyway.

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armour and shouted: 'What ho!' and challenged us, sword-point against chalk to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I have never made above a C- in my life. No- he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all these names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

"Well you know them all now," Annabeth noted, nudging Percy. "Might not be able to spell them all, but you know them." Annabeth smiled and Percy laughed. –They were so comfortable with each other.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"Probably had," Annabeth commented. I was confused for a second then I realised that Annabeth believes that Mr Brunner is Chiron. Percy ignored this comment, seeing no point in arguing with her.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth** **Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over a city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

"What's the matter with Zeus?" Leo asked, voicing the question in my head.

"You'll see," Annabeth and Percy said at the same time. Yep, we were going to hear that answer a lot and it was already annoying.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's bag, and, of course, Mrs Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from **_**that **_**school- the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

"**Detention?" Grover asked.**

"**Nah," I said. "Not from Mr Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean- I'm not a genius."**

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

At this Annabeth stopped reading and laughed. Percy joined in while the rest of us just sat there because we had never met Grover before. "Typical thing for Grover to say," Annabeth laughed.

"He really hasn't changed." Percy said chuckling. The rest of us just sat there awkwardly waiting for them to stop laughing and for Annabeth to continue reading. Once the two finished Annabeth continued on.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. I watched the steam of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

"Was it really your sixth school in six years?" Jason asked.

Percy blushed, "Yeah, well what do you expect?" I had no idea what that meant and it was clear that Jason didn't either.

**Mr Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.**

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends- I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists- and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

"**Opps." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody has spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

**I tried to stay cool. The school counsellor had told me a million times, 'Count to ten, get control of your temper.' But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

Annabeth stopped reading and looked over at Percy, her expression saying 'really?'

"A wave?" she asked him, "Really?" it took me a second for it to click. Right he's a son of Poseidon.

"I thought it was quiet clever," Leo piped in making Percy smile.

"Thank you Leo," he said clapping him on the back causing Leo to smile wildly.

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

**Mrs Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"**

"**- the water-"**

"**-like it grabbed her-"**

"That's awesome!" Leo shouted. Annabeth rolled her eyes while Percy smiled.

"Well being a son of Poseidon does have its perks,"

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, ect., ect., Mrs Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"**

"**I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing textbooks."**

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Oh really?" Frank asked sarcastically.

"**Come with me," Mrs Dodds said.**

"**Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. **_**I**_** pushed her."**

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs Dodds scared Grover to death.**

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

"**I don't think so, Mr Underwood," she said. **

"**But-"**

"**You-**_**will**_**-stay-here."**

"**It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

"**Honey," Mrs Dodds barked at me. "**_**Now**_**."**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

Annabeth shivered.

"What?" I asked her.

"That stare."

"Surly it can't be that scary." Jason piped in.

"Oh, trust me it is." At that comment I shivered. If Annabeth thought it was scary then it must be terrifying.

**I then turned to face Mrs Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counsellor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

**I wasn't so sure.**

**I went after Mrs Dodds.**

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr Brunner, like he wanted Mr Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Annabeth muttered.

**I looked back up. Mrs Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

**Mrs Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…**

"Yeah, I agree with Annabeth. Something's not right here," Hazel said looking nervous.

"**You've been giving us problems, honey," she said**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

**I said, "I'll – I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

"**We are not fools, Percy Jackson." Mrs Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

"Yep," Frank said popping the 'p', "Definitely a monster."

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on **_**Tom Sawyer **_**from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

Annabeth hit Percy with the book. "_Tom Sawyer _was a great book."

"Ow I'm sorry." He said, "Not all of us are as smart as you are."

Annabeth stilled looked angry but cracked a smile.

"**Well?" she demanded.**

"**Ma'am, I don't…"**

"**Your time is up." She hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shrivelled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"Wait," Frank said, "You defeated your first monster when you were only 12 and without any training?"

"Yeah…"

"Wow. I wish I was as good as you," he mumbled.

"You're better than me Frank, you've saved my life."

"You've saved my life more times than I can count,"

"No, you've-"

"Guys, can you continue this later?" Annabeth asked. The two boys mumbled a yes each and Annabeth continued reading.

**Then things got even stranger.**

**Mr Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"**What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

**Mrs Dodds lunged at me.**

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword – Mr Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament days.**

"Is that…?" Annabeth asked, looking at Percy.

"Yep," he smirked, twirling a pen in his hand. I looked at it in amazement realizing that it was the same pen that was just mentioned in the book.

**Mrs Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that come naturally: I swung the sword.**

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. **_**Hiss!**_

**Mrs Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulphur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

**I went back outside. **

**It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Who?" Leo asked.

**I said, "Who?" **

"**Our **_**teacher**_**. Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

"The mist," Annabeth muttered to herself.

**I asked Grover where Mrs Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?" **

**But he paused first, and wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"Grover's a terrible lair." Annabeth noted shaking her head.

"Oh the worst," Percy agreed.

"**Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

**I saw Mr Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted, "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr Jackson."**

**I handed it over. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

"**Sir," I said, "Where's Mrs Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly, "Who?"**

"**The other chaperone. Mrs Dodds. The maths teacher."**

"That would be so frustrating," Leo groaned.

"Yeah it was," Percy agreed. "I thought I was going crazy."

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?" **

"And that's the end of the first chapter," Annabeth said. "Who wants to read next?"

**A/N Hey guys, sorry I took me like 3 weeks to update just been kinda busy and these Fanfictions aren't that easy to write. But I will continue anyway.**

**So I was thinking of maybe adding Nico and Thalia to join them. What do you guys think? Please let me know! I love all the review so far, thank you so much, they mean a lot to me. Please contine to R&R.**

**-Seaweed Brain Herondales.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Characters and plot belong to Rick Riordan, I own the comments in-between. **

**Frank POV **

"I will read next." I offered taking the book from Annabeth.

**Chapter 2 Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks Of Death.**

We all looked at Percy again.

"Just keep reading." He sighed.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs Kerr- a perky blonde woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip- had been our maths teacher since Christmas. **

"The trick of the mist." Hazel noted.

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was a psycho.**

**It got so I almost believed them- Mrs Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost.**

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

"Of course it was Grover." Annabeth said shaking her head and smiling. Percy laughed.

**Something was going on. Something **_**had **_**happened at the museum.**

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

All the demigods shivered.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. **

"What's the matter with Zeus?" Leo asked. When no one answered he looked to Jason.

"Why are you looking at me?" he asked.

"Because Zeus is your dad."

"So?" Jason asked confused.

"So, it means that you should know why he is angry."

"What? Leo that doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah it-"

"Boys." Piper said over their bickering. "Just stop it and let Frank read."

**One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year. I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from D's to F's. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. **

Annabeth glared over at Percy, who was holding up his hands in defense. He then cracked a grin and I saw Annabeth's glare waver until it was gone completely, replaced by a small smile.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

Annabeth started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Leo asked.

"He called him an old sot." Annabeth replied smiling.

"Yeah so?"

"It means old drunkard." She informed Leo, then she turned to Percy. "You shouldn't have called him that."

"He was annoying me."

"That doesn't mean you can go around calling him an old sot."

"I can call people old sots if I want."

"No you can't Percy, you-"

"Frank continue reading." Percy interrupted Annabeth mid rant. Obviously he knew that he was going to lose this argument.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

"I thought you liked Paul?" Annabeth questioned looking at Percy.

"This was before Paul."

"Oh that's right." Annabeth growled, he face turning dark.

**And yet…there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of the pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

"Ohhh." Piper and Hazel said at the same time.

"That's so sweet." Piper said.

**I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr Brunner had told me about this subjects being life-ad-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I started to believe him. **

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room.**

Annabeth glared at Percy. "There was no need to take your anger out on the book."

"Well what should I have done then?" Percy asked.

"Not of thrown the book."

"It was the only thing that was there."

"Still shouldn't have thrown the book."

"Guys," I said. "How cares? Can we please just continue reading please?"

Annabeth mumbled an okay while Percy silently thanked me.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

"Latin is easy." Jason said.

"Shut up Sparkey, not everyone is a Roman like you." Percy defended himself.

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

"That's so cute that you want to impress him." Piper said.

"Cute?" Percy asked. "How is that cute?"

"The way you look up to him like that, that you actually care what he thinks about you."

"Yeah because it's Chiron, who doesn't care what Chiron thinks about you." Annabeth added.

"Annabeth how do you know if it's Chiron?" Percy asked.

"It's so obvious."

"Whatever."

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

"Dun dun dun!" Leo said dramatically. He received a smack from Piper for that.

"Ow, what was that for Beauty Queen?" Leo asked rubbing his shoulder.

"For being an idiot."

"How was I being an idiot?"

"Yeah." Percy agreed. "He was just adding sound effects, I love it." Piper glared at Percy while Leo nodded his head.

"Don't encourage him." Piper said sternly.

"I'm not encouraging him. All I'm saying is that adding sound effects like that to the story will make it more interesting."

"Exactly." Leo said.

"Everyone is favor of 'sound effects'", Annabeth said, making air quotes when she said sound effects. "raise your hand." Percy and Leo's hands shot up.

"All of those in favor of no sound effects, raise your hand." The rest of us all raised our hands.

"Aw, come on guys." Leo pouted.

"Fine be boring then." Percy said crossing his arms.

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"You are so an eavesdropper." Annabeth smirked at Percy.

"I am not." He replied defensively.

"I've seen you with the Stolls."

And that put an end to the conversation.

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"**

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline- "**

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

**"Sir, he saw her... ."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

"He didn't fail." Annabeth said softly and Percy nodded.

"Didn't fail in what?" Jason asked.

"You'll find out soon." They said at the same time.

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"The Stolls will be disappointed because you gave away you're position." Annabeth said.

"Well I've gotten better." He defended himself.

"Sure you have."

"I have."

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

"Ha see? Rule number 17, leave no evidence." Percy said to Annabeth. He had fallen right into her trap.

"Ha, I knew you were hanging out with the Stolls."

Percy cursed himself under his breath.

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

"Good acting." Annabeth noted.

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just... tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

"Three hour Latin exam? Three hours?" Leo asked in disbelief.

"Yep." Percy said. "It was absolute torture."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah you're right it wasn't, it was worse." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

"That's not the right thing to say." Piper said.

**My eyes stung.**

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"**

"And that's even worse." Piper added.

"You're going to take that the wrong way aren't you?" Annabeth asked Percy.

"I didn't know it back then what we was referring to."

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.**

**"Percy-"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"A family of nobodies, really?" Jason asked raising an eyebrow.

"Shut it Grace." Was Percy's reply.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

"Stalker alert." Leo said then started making an alarm sound. He got another punch from Piper.

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he**

**expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"You would've given him a heart attack." Annabeth said.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"**

"Told you."

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."**

"At least he's trying to cover it up." Hazel added.

**"Grover-"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

"He's getting better." Annabeth noted.

"Yeah those lessons from the Stolls are doing him good." Percy agreed.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

**Grover Underwood**

**Keeper**

**Half-Blood Hill**

**Long Island, New York**

**(800) 009-0009**

"Why is it in fancy script when demigods have dyslexia?" Hazel asked.

"Mr.D, our camp director, likes to watch us struggle to try and read it. It… amuses him." Annabeth answered her.

**"What's Half-"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

"That's a bit harsh Percy." Hazel didn't sound impressed.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

"Well at least you didn't mean it to." Her gaze softened.

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

**"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"**

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

"Surly not." Annabeth muttered.

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

Annabeth paled slightly. "Oh no."

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"That was not funny Percy." Annabeth said."

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

So did Annabeth.

"Annabeth." Jason said slowly. "Are those three old ladies who I think they are?" She nodded her head in response and Jason's face paled also.

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

"Listen to him." Annabeth pleaded, grabbing on to Percy's arm.

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for-Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

"How are you still alive?" Jason asked Percy.

"It wasn't my cord."

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"Everything." Leo muttered.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.**

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin. **

"Way to freak him out more." Annabeth shook her head.

"Who were those old ladies?" Leo asked.

"Those were the fates." Piper told him.

"Oh." Was his reply.

"Well… who wants to read next?" I asked.

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the massive wait just didn't have much motivation for this story. Anyway I want to add in some other characters but I don't how to do it without making it sound cliché, so do you guys have any suggestions? If you do I would love to hear them. **

**-Seaweed Brain Herondales.**


End file.
